Have you ever been self-conscious about your smile? Thousands of others experience the same thing. Did you know there are natural nutrition tips that can help improve symptoms like discoloration, gum puffiness, and more? But oral health is about more than just the way you look. Dietary changes can even reduce or prevent diseases and infections. They can promote good growth and development for long-term health.
Try some of these nutrition tips, from food ideas to lifestyle changes. They can help you to smile bigger, brighter, and more confident.
Embrace Fruits For Whiter Teeth
Did you know that those juicy, messy, brightly colored fruits that stain your shirt can make your teeth whiter? There are upwards of a dozen of these foods that can instantly work to rejuvenate your bright, shiny smile. Some of these include:
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Oranges
- Grapefruit
- Pineapples
Many of these fruits cause the mouth to produce more saliva instinctively. This saliva is what works to make our teeth whiter. Strawberries, though, do something a little different. These seedy delectable treats contain malic acid, which can whiten teeth due to its composition as an enzyme.
Along with teeth whitening capabilities, citrus, like oranges and grapefruit, can work to reduce inflammation in the gums. Inflammation can be painful and cause bleeding when you brush and floss or even when you eat. By increasing your vitamin C intake with citrus, you are strengthening your oral tissue and blood vessels. This, in turn, heals your inflamed gums faster.
Work With Professionals
One of the best ways to improve your oral health is by speaking with a professional. Local Chicago dentists can evaluate your unique oral health and offer dietary suggestions that suit your needs. While some foods are generally meant to help improve the health of your teeth and gums, a doctor or nutritionist can give you specific foods to try for your unique problems.
These experts can also catch health issues early before they progress. Diseases, cavities, and even cancer should be screened for frequently. Early detection makes it easier, more painless, and generally cheaper to treat. It also improves the prognosis. Trusting a dental professional can allow access to personalized, top-of-the-line care that ensures the best smile possible.
Fight Cavities With Cacao
Cavities are painful manifestations of decay in the mouth. They are a fairly common dental malady, but there are plenty of ways to avoid dealing with these issues. Cacao is one of them.
Did you know that this tasty, rich, chocolatey morsel can fight cavity-producing bacteria from the inside? Just like swishing around your toothpaste or mouthwash, nibbling on this snack kills the bacteria responsible for creating cavities. You don’t have to have this snack by itself to reap its impressive benefits. Enjoy it in coffee or tea. Just make sure not to load it up with sugary creamer that may do just as much harm as the cacao is doing good.
Hydrate for a Healthy Smile
Every time you sip your water, you wash away traces of residue and bacteria that could be remaining on your teeth and gums. Water is your body’s natural way of cleansing the mouth between meals and throughout the day. The sugary particles from your previous meal can linger and cause cavities. Sipping water gets rid of sugary, acidic, and otherwise problematic particles lingering on the gums and teeth.
The minerals and fluoride in some water can also strengthen the enamel on your teeth. It is important to drink water that will have these nutrients. While filtered or bottled water may not include fluoride, but it can usually be found in tap water, mineral water, or fluoride water.
Staying hydrated can even stimulate saliva production, which keeps your teeth safe from excess plaque caused by dry mouth. Sip tap or mineral water throughout the day to reap these many short and long-term benefits for your oral health.
Get Picky With Your Beverage Choice
When we think about natural oral health solutions, the first thing that comes to mind is the diet. But that also includes your drink choices, which could be your downfall. Drinks you have every day, like coffee or tea, can quickly begin to stain your teeth and do other damage to your oral health.
For Whiter, Stain-Free Teeth
Everyone deserves to smile confidently. Stains and discoloration are common, but they can make it hard to want to show off your pearly whites. Did you know that a few, or even just one beverage could be what is causing this? Getting rid of stains on your teeth could be as easy as cutting a beverage out of your diet. The big culprits for stains and discoloration are:
- Coffee
- Black tea
- Red wine
Swap your morning cup of coffee or black tea for green tea. Lighter liquids will not leave stains as visible as dark coffee beverages.
To Avoid Tooth Decay
Some beverages are particularly efficient at eroding your enamel and creating cavities. If you hope to naturally reduce your risk of cavities and to smile fresher, cut these acidic drinks from your diet:
- White wine
- Alcohol
- Soda
- Sugary juices
Replace these tasty options with other delicious choices like milk, which is rich in calcium. Calcium strengthens teeth, repairs enamel, and contains other valuable minerals. Both spinach and kale also contain tooth-strengthening calcium, making green smoothies a great beverage to fight tooth decay.
Instead of sugary juices, opt for an acid-free, natural fruit juice without added sugars. You can even blend your juice at home.
The Bottom Line
Maintaining oral health changes the appearance of our smile, but also affects comfort, pain, and long-term health. Whether you are self-conscious about a stained smile or worried about constant cavities, there are solutions in nutrition and dental care. Add foods like cacao and citrus to your diet, load up on fruits for a pearly white smile, and meet with dentists to find your unique nutrition needs.
Just keep in mind that your smile is what you make it; you have the power to instantly improve your oral health with a few small nutrition and dietary changes.
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